A scanning project worthy of a 'Band of Brothers'

I opened a letter that has sat untouched for the last 70 years. Musty, brittle, and faded, I pried the paper from its well-worn sleeve. For the past few days, I’ve repeated this ritual hundreds of times as I’ve meticulously prepared and scanned the letters from my maternal Grandfather, Bob Mann, a WW2 Veteran. Most are written to my Grandmother, who passed her time during the war assembling parts of B2 bombers, and writing letters daily to “her Bob” on the front lines. They tell stories of fear, love, triumph, tragedy, and adventure. He would sit in a foxhole and read comic books, and write letters home to his sweetheart; dreaming of a cottage on a tranquil lake to occupy his thoughts and take his mind off the constant sniper and artillery fire.

Nothing is more fun than scanning onion paper.

People know me as someone who lives in a paperless office, and enjoys a paperless lifestyle, in fact I don’t own a printer. So you might be asking, why I have held onto this particular paper. My grandfather’s letters from the war tell a profound story. He was part of the invasion of France, liberated Paris, fought in the Battle of the Bulge, freed Belgium, and smashed the Eagle's Nest. That would make a great movie, right? Correct, and HBO turned his division’s story into ‘Band of Brothers’. I had heard some of this growing up, but now digging into his letters; it became totally real and personal for me.


This letter is dated June 22, 1944, a few weeks after the invasion of France.


“Don’t worry too much – the Germans may be tough but they don’t come at us with invincible and bullet proof skin. We shoot to kill like they do, and the chances are even, although I do believe we have them worried more or less. Did you know too that I’m the Army’s secret weapon- they never heard of me yet! Ha! Ha!” Clearly, a sense of humor and pride runs in the family.


To help me with this project, Canon sent me 2 scanners to test, a P-215 portable scanner, and a DR-C125 desktop scanner. I originally thought that given the age and condition of the paper and the contents, I’d have to use a flatbed scanner and painstakingly prepare and scan 1 page at a time of thousands. After a quick chat, I was assured that the DR-C125 was built to handle fragile and delicate paper. 


My pulse was racing as I fed the first letter into the document feeder. Would it eat it and make for awkward conversations around the family dinner table? To my delight, the machine whipped into action, neatly separating each page, bringing the words to life on my screen. Using the integrated ImageFORMULA scanning utility, the process was a breeze. Page by page, note by note, the documents assembled themselves into perfectly arranged PDFs. I did a fist pump at my computer as technology revived the words locked on the page for the last 70 years.


Once I had a few pictures and letters scanned, my first message was to my Mom on Facebook when I shared the incredibly well reasoned status update with the photo below; “Liberating Paris, suck it Hitler.” 


Over the next few weeks, I’ll complete this project, and pending family approval share all of the letters online for others to enjoy as well. Thanks again to the fine folks at Canon for providing the scanner for this project and helping me recapture a piece of my history.

What can Katy Perry teach us about making end users happy?

I recently was speaking with a SharePoint user who told me one of the biggest challenges she faces with her deployment is that users don’t want to use the system, and they prefer their old ways. Now, in my office, typically I don’t have a choice when it comes to what systems are used and how work gets done. “Do you want me to juggle chainsaws, sing Katy Perry songs and integrate this new cloud project management tool?”

Sure boss, if that is what’s required.

So this instance led me to thinking that maybe the troops could use some tips on how to win over employees or customers when launching a new system or changing the way you alter data:

1) Make it fun. No one has to be told to play Angry Birds or check Facebook, because they are fun by default. (Espeically when you see that an ex has once again set their Status to “single.”) When engaging new users, make things fun! I always keep candy on hand and use personal stories and silly pictures to get people engaged. If people are laughing and smiling, you are winning them over to a new way of thinking. If that doesn’t work, forget to put your pants on after lunch.

2) Provide lots of training opportunities. Some systems don’t require training but you should support different methods of learning. I like to record two minute, bite-sized videos that can be sent and shared easily, in addition to documentation and live sessions. Let people experience it live, or on demand.

3) Be there to answer questions. Bedside manner is critical when it comes to dealing with reluctant team members. Don’t be afraid to make yourself available in person. I like using “office hours” where people can call, drop in, or message me for instant answers.

4) Use the carrot and stick. This is critical, because you can’t have one without the other. Just as people should be trained and rewarded, they should also be punished for not doing their jobs and working as part of a team. Don’t be afraid to crack down on people that seek to derail your efforts and projects.

What do you think about these approaches to making end users happy? What methods do you use to create smiling faces? (Besides the colon and parenthetical keys.)